illuminacommunications.com Blog

Would you say that the messages against drinking and driving have been effective? It’s true that it still happens. On the other hand, it’s also the case that having even one alcoholic drink and then proposing to drive is regarded, at the very least, with distaste. Getting drunk and driving is socially unacceptable.

With the hopes of turning pot smoking and driving into an equally despicable premise, the Canadian Public Health Association’s (CPHA) “Pot and Driving” campaign is meant to convince teenagers of the negative affects of marijuana consumption on their driving.

The CPHA campaign features images of pilots sharing a joint. It asks, “If you were a passenger in a commercial jet, would you be comfortable if your pilots smoked up so they could really get into flying the plane?”

If the campaign does what it hopes to do, it will point out that if flying high is risky, so is smoking pot and driving.

The CPHA “Pot and Driving” campaign is targeted at teenagers for two good reasons. First, Canadians between the ages of 14 to 25 have one of the highest rates of pot use in the world. Second, research has shown that Canadian teenagers do not believe there are any risks involved with smoking marijuana and then driving.

According to the Canadian Public Health Association, smoking pot has the following effects:

• increases the reaction time needed to respond to an emergency decision-making task, such as adapting to changes in speed of the vehicle ahead or to the vehicle’s brake lights
• affects tracking ability, meaning that drivers who are under the influence of a certain dose of THC have been found to have a harder time following their lane.
• reduces a driver’s ability to perceive changes in the relative speed of other vehicles and to adjust his/her own speed accordingly.

If the associated risks of smoking pot are not convincing, the law is unequivocal. As with alcohol, operating any type of motor vehicle, either on or off road, while impaired by drugs or alcohol contravenes the Canadian Criminal Code.

More information on the Pot and Driving Campaign is available at www.potanddriving.cpha.ca.

This article is presented by the Saint Lazare Medical Response Unit as information only and is not intended as medical advice. For more information visit www.saintlazare911.com.

How do people get poisoned? The answers may not be what you expected.

This is the first year for a month-long awareness initiative on poisons, taking place this month across Canada. The Canadian Association of Poison Control Centres uses this time to educate people about the hazards that can lead to poisoning, and how to avoid them.

Poisoning ranks as the third most common injury leading to hospitalization across Canada, the first two being falls and automobile crashes.

While we often hear about the unintended poisoning of young children, tragically, most poisonings in Canada are self-inflicted and intentional. Medications account for these self-inflicted poisonings, and overdosing with them is the most common form of poisoning. This trend is most pronounced among women in the 20-49 years category, where drug overdosing is the most common form of suicide.

At the Saint-Lazare Medical Response Unit, we’ve also seen self-inflicted overdosing on medications that probably was not intentional. When it comes to the damage drug poisoning does to the body, however, it doesn’t matter if the overdose was intentional or not.

Taken at the proper dose, at the right time, by the person for whom the medication was intended, medications like anti-depressants, tranquilizers, or analgesics can be helpful drugs. These same medications can also cause respiratory distress, organ failure, cardiac arrest or many other serious and damaging effects when they are improperly administered.

When taking prescription drugs, it is extremely important to follow the instructions for use. When in doubt, either because you have missed a dose or for some other reason, you should contact your pharmacist or your physician to ask how you should proceed.

In homes where children are present, the Canada Safety Council recommends that we keep medications out of sight and out of reach. Children, especially those under 6, are certainly at risk to poisoning from medication. It is preferable to keep medication under lock and key. Adults who take medication should do so out of sight of the children.

For anyone who is known or suspected to have improperly ingested medications or swallowed, inhaled, or come into skin or eye contact with other potentially noxious substances, call the Centre anti-poison du Québec at 1-800-463-5060. Write this number down where you keep other important phone numbers. If the person is unconscious, call 911 right away.

This article is presented by the Saint Lazare Medical Response Unit as information only and is not intended as medical advice. For more information visit www.saintlazare911.com.